Case Studies

Industry: Automotive-Trucking
Function: Executive Management
Location: Domestic US

In 2005, American La France - one of the oldest and best-known manufacturers of large custom trucks (trash, ambulance, and fire) was sold by its parent Freightliner to Patriarch Partners. As part of the transition from Freightliner, ALF attempted to implement a complex enterprise-resource-planning system to help track orders, configure vehicles, and manage inventory, in addition to financial management.

However, by 2007 the implementation was failing. An MMG associate served in a triage CTO role to complete the implementation work as part of the senior management team to get the stalled and failing ERP system implementation back on track.  He also drove key results in system performance and data integrity, including:

• Creating a web -based customer vehicle configuration and order management system
• Managing design engineering operations and systems
• Introducing Product Lifecycle Management, and driving down the product lifecycle
• Reducing active items managed in inventory from 90% to 25%
• Reducing transactional requirements in work-in-process by more than 50%
• Establishing an accurate manufacturing bill of materials

He created and led the Sales Operations function for ALF (as the interim Vice President), providing a single face to the customer for cradle-to-grave product support – from order management/ configuration through delivery, invoicing and operational services support, to vehicle retirement and replacement.

While this implementation was underway, the company experienced a series of CFO and CEO transitions; and ALF declared bankruptcy at end of 2008. During this time, the MMG associate oversaw the creation and management of required financial procedures and records. During bankruptcy, he reported directly to the Chief Restructuring Officer and Creditor Committee representatives; the key work included:

• Successfully negotiating payment plans with key vendors through the bankruptcy period,
• Executing discovery, document retention, and matter research for concurrent litigation, and
• Acting as an executive coach for senior managers to improve recognition of and response to organizational behaviors under stress.

These activities laid the groundwork for ALF to successfully emerge from bankruptcy by mid 2008.

Industry: Financial Services
Function: HR; Strategic Planning
Location: Domestic US

This regional financial institution was stalling in its growth, under scrutiny from regulators (US Treasury Department, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) and faced take-over threats.

Working with the firm’s strategic planning and organizational development functions as well as senior management, we aligned the firm’s human capital “management systems” (business planning & individual development planning, incentive plans & systems, training and development offerings), and to link these systems with business performance. We built a corporate-wide performance management system that enabled comparison of business results across the firm, establishing effective communications across internal stakeholder groups. Every senior manager accountable for a business unit or function (more than 30 in total) built business and personal performance plans, was evaluated against those plans, was incentive-paid based on performance, and had an integrated development plan.

On the basis of this effective performance management system, the organization was able to move out from beneath regulatory scrutiny, and return to profitable growth.

Industry: Pharmaceuticals
Function: New Product Development
Location: Domestic

A major pharma company had a slow and serial clinical-trials management process, facing challenges to integrate across teams and across functions in new drug development. We worked with business- and functional leadership to develop and introduce team-based process improvement, focused on improving the speed and effective performance within and across the business’s clinical trials teams. Our solution, an action-learning oriented approach, used contemporary team experiences, “public domain” materials, custom-developed video, and deep-dive exercises. With this well-rounded approach, the program addressed the fundamental changes in behavior needed from team members, and the changes in process needed to support faster concurrent product launch and marketing efforts, across multiple functions and geographies.

Industry: European Luxuary Automotive Sales/ Distribution
Function: Sales
Location: Domestic US

Our client had an aggressive three-year goal: increase sales in a franchise distribution channel by 40% without adding dealers or hiring more sales people. Only one approach could achieve that outcome: make the existing sales force more effective and productive.

In this case, “more productive” means taking a group of already-high achievers at the retail outlet and individual level, and making them better.

We have helped our client to profile, replicate and recruit the objective metrics among retail locations, and the elusive professional and personal traits among individual sales performers, that define "Top 10%" - and help our client to develop the people, processes, tools and support, and working environments that help them to thrive at these dramatically higher levels of performance.

The goal was ambitious - to infuse “top performer” attributes throughout the retail channel, creating a culture populated by top-performing stores and people. Early-stage results for this program and related initiatives showed an effective double-digit productivity increase in sales.

Industry: Medical Devices
Function: Marketing & Sales
Location: Domestic

A $100MM business unit of a global medical device/ pharmaceutical giant was a newcomer to a market segment dominated by entrenched, deep-pocketed global competitors such as Johnson & Johnson and Bayer.

Working with our client’s marketing department and marketing/technology services providers, we designed, implemented and managed integrated marketing programs, a CRM system and a series of targeted marketing projects. To make these programs successful, we worked with our client to:

• Identify priority marketing objectives, and key customer needs, in their “complex sale” retail environment;
• Aggressively develop new product and services offerings, designed to deliver information, influence, and leverage for our clients sales force with regard to their target customers;
• Design structured processes to collect more market intelligence, convert this market intelligence into meaningful management information, and use it to develop subsequent programs; and
• Managed the cross-organizational business team, covering sales and marketing, IT, finance, vendor-partners, and IT/ systems development.

The goal was daunting—carve market share directly from the segment leaders in a flat market—and our client realized steep gains by taking share from market leaders over a three-year period, using the key programs we worked with them to design and implement.

Industry: Retail Automotive, Financial Services
Function: HR; Corporate Communications
Location: Domestic US

Our client’s brand (a Japanese import automotive manufacturer) has grown steadily to a position of global leadership in automotive sales and service.

However, its finance company in the U. S. market has been challenged by growth and internal cultural issues to develop an “Employer Brand” to equal the power and recognition of the “product” brand.

We worked with senior executives and HR management to define the company’s “employer brand attributes,” outline key next steps in its HR and Performance Management systems implementation, and developed a communications plan with key communications deliverables, designed to reach key stakeholders, inside and outside the company.

The work overtly acknowledged and addressed the unique needs of different workforce generations, and defined a multi-channel communications approach to carry the message to them.

Industry: Medical Devices OEM Manufacturer
Function: Executive Management, Strategic Planning
Location: Domestic US

The new CEO of a technology-based medical device original equipment manufacturer wanted to revamp his management team and instill a new culture of innovation and performance.

Working with the management team, we helped to rationalize the initial complex mix of business lines and strengthen the portfolio of companies, and supported the disposition of non-core assets to the marketplace (taking a lead role in selling off several non-core ancillary businesses).

In the next phases, we worked with the senior teams of each business unit to identify and pursue opportunities for growth, through both internal investment and focused acquisitions. The client made several successful acquisitions; we worked with them to successfully integrate these, and to create a broader, deeper market presence for this firm in its core markets.

The work resulted in a dramatic increase in this client’s profitability, from less than 10% to more than 50% ROA, growth in business revenue from $200MM to more than $800MM, and an 800% increase in stock price.